Many of today's communication devices, such as two-way radios and cell phones, connect to an array of accessories that are of varying complexity. Some of these accessories contain a microprocessor and are considered “smart”, while others are less complex. Radio accessories often need to be identified to properly activate support for the accessory. Differentiation amongst accessories can be provided by software, electrical modules, or by mechanical differences within the accessories. To differentiate accessories using mechanical differences requires addressing the practical limits of external accessory density and size. A modular design minimizes engineering development resources by allowing generic devices to be built and then customized quickly based on customer demand. The use of modular designs, however, can complicate device identification because the device identification information may have to be changed when the accessory is modified, reconfigured, or upgraded. Having to re-program the information is highly undesirable, and if the upgrade or re-configuration is performed by the customer, may not even be possible.
Accordingly, there is a need for a common accessory platform that can be used for multiple accessory configurations and which allows the accessory to reconfigure itself.